There can be no doubt that it was the Sri Rangam hinterland that bore the far greater brunt of the Ghaznivid and Malik Kafur depredations than Kanchipuram. (Please see the map in Part-18). The state of ruin and penury to which the Vishnu temples in the southern provinces in and around the Sri Rangam templeContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantin-s”: Part 20″
Tag Archives: Kanchipuram Varadaraja Temple
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantin-s”: Part 17
From a reading of the “Sri Rangam Koil ozhukku”, it is possible to glean quite a few snippets of 15th to 18th century CE history during which the enormous and legendary contributions successive generations of the noble “Utthama Nambi” family made to the expansion, care, maintenance and development of the Sri Rangam temple thanks inContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantin-s”: Part 17″
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantin-s”: Part 16
One of the commonest Tenkalai historical narratives that is dissonant from the Vadakalai one, is that the latter drew far greater legitimacy for power to control the Sri Kanchi Devarajaperumal Temple from the Vijayanagar Royal Court than from Sri Ramanujacharya himself. For well over 500 year, the Thaathaacharyas of Kanchi enjoyed the rights and privilegesContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantin-s”: Part 16″
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 15
Throughout the 16th-17th century CE, there always persisted an undercurrent of tension and conflict in Kanchipuram amongst the “ubaya-vedaantins“. It kept simmering beneath the surface and rarely erupted in any serious external clashes or skirmishes of the ugly sort being witnessed today between Tenkalai and Vadakalai not only inside the precincts of the Kanchi SriContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 15″
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 14
The narrative of the Tenkalai challenging the Legitimacy of the Kanchipuram Thathaacharya clan’s exercise of Power and influence over the Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple since the 15th century CE is founded on what the Vadakalai sect considers to be fabricated, specious and wholly untenable from the viewpoint of “ubaya vedaanta sampradaayam”. Only because the ThaathaacharyasContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 14″
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 13
“SrIranga-mangaLa-nidhim karuNAnivAsam SrIvenkaTAdri-SikharAlaya-kAlamegham | SrIhastiSaila-Sikharojjvala-pArijAtam SrISam-namAmi SirasA yaduSaila-dIpam || It is an observable fact of history that at three of the above four great capital temple-towns of Sri Vaishnavas the above shloka names — viz. Tirumala, Sri Rangam and Melkote –Sri Ramanujacharya, personally undertook the responsibility for reforming the then prevailing and later institutionalizing aContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 13″
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 12
The second of the major dissonances amongst the Tenkalai and Vadakalai versions of the history of the Kanchi Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple is related to “POWER AND LEGITIMACY” and how each sect reacts to both. It is going to need explication at quite some length because it is perhaps the chief reason why the manyContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins”: Part 12″
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins” – Part 11
The major dissonances amongst the Tenkalai and Vadakalai versions of the history of the Kanchi Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple are three in number: A. Historicity or timeline B. Power and Legitimacy: C. Language as a cultural badge …. or baggage. *********************************** HISTORICITY: There is a significant difference in the way the Tenkalai and Vadakalai viewContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins” – Part 11″
The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins” – Part 9
When one reads both the narratives of the Tenkalai and Vadakalai sects in the way I have tried to recapitulate them in the last two Parts (7 and 8) — with focus on bland, simple and matter-of-fact content sifted away as much as possible from otherwise rather distracting hagiographical excess and effusion — it isContinue reading “The Decline and Fall of the “ubaya-vedaantins” – Part 9″